Director of Engineering, Fan Experience
Gametime
Chicago, IL · $257k–$302k a year · Posted October 6, 2026
We last confirmed this job open on October 28, 2026. Check the employer’s site to see if it is still taking applications.
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Where Chicago, IL ranks
Where Chicago, IL placed in our monthly rankings, month by month. Each month stays online at its own address.
November 2026
- #1Best cities for government pay after cost of living$146k · of 18
- #1Cities with the most jobs that do not need a four-year degree in the Midwest684 jobs · of 51
- #1Cities with the most jobs that do not need a four-year degree in the Great Lakes684 jobs · of 36
- #1Best cities for software and engineering jobs in the Midwest1,140 openings · of 59
- #1Best cities for software and engineering jobs in the Great Lakes1,140 openings · of 48
- #1Best all-round cities for mid-career professionals in the Midwest80 / 100 · of 20
Rankings about engineering jobs
- Best cities for software and engineering jobs #1 San Francisco (3,412 openings)
- Best cities for engineering pay after cost of living #1 San Mateo ($216k)
- Most requested AI skills in engineering jobs #1 AI tools in daily work (6.1%)
- AI tools named most often in engineering jobs #1 Claude (1.7%)
- Employers with the most engineering jobs #1 Amazon (2,992 roles)
Pay compared with the market
This listing pays about $279,521 a year. Across 45 open director of engineering listings that state pay, the middle half runs $203,500 to $290,000 and the median is $256,500. That is inside the middle half of those listings, 9% above the median.
Listed pay is what employers advertise, not what people are paid.
Director of Engineering salaries by state · Check your own pay
How AI is used in this kind of work
AI use among architectural and engineering managers is little observed so far. Measured exposure for architectural and engineering managers: 3% (little observed).
Share of this job’s tasks that AI is already used for at work, from real usage. It is not a forecast of job loss, and a low number means no use seen yet. Source: Anthropic Economic Index.
Skills this job asks for
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About the job
About Us: Live experiences help people cross today’s digital divide and focus on what truly connects us – the here, the now, this once-in-a-lifetime moment that’s bringing us together. To fulfill Gametime’s mission of uniting the world through shared experiences, we make it easy for people to discover and access the live experiences that matter most.
With platforms on iOS, Android, mobile web and desktop supporting more than 60,000 events across the US and Canada, we are reimagining the event ticket industry in order to move at the speed of life.
The Role
Gametime’s Fan Experience team owns how fans discover, decide on, and purchase tickets on the demand side of our marketplace — the core experience for millions of ticket buyers across iOS, Android, mobile web, and desktop. This Engineering Manager will lead a team of full-stack and front-end engineers building the features and value propositions that define how fans experience Gametime, partnering day-to-day with a dedicated Product Manager and Designer to move quickly from idea to production.
This is a hands-on role. You’ll spend real time on the keyboard alongside your team, and you’ll set the standard for how the team uses frontier models, AI coding tools, and new harnesses to generate, review, test, and monitor code — raising both velocity and quality as the bar for what’s possible keeps moving. This role reports to the VP of Product.
What You’ll Do
Hands-on leadership: spend a meaningful share of your time actually coding alongside the team — you lead from the front, not just from the roadmap
AI-forward engineering: set the standard for how your team uses frontier models, AI coding agents/harnesses, and new tooling to generate, review, test, and monitor code — the primary lever for increasing velocity and quality (i.e. fewer bugs, more stable services, cohesive system architecture) together, not as a trade-off
Cross-functional partnership: partner closely, day-to-day, with a dedicated PM and Designer as a trio; bring a real point of view on what the product and features should be, not just how to build them
Velocity investment: partner with product to identify and invest in what will let the team move faster over time — tooling, domain foundation design, tech debt paydown, and better use of AI in the development loop
Risk partnership: partner with product to surface the risks in what’s being proposed, and bring concrete recommendations and proposals for how to mitigate and eliminate those risks over time
Delivery: own the engineering roadmap and execution plan for your area, balancing speed, quality, and technical debt
Mentorship and talent bar: mentor engineers toward their next career level, hold a high talent bar for hiring and performance on your team, and help level up talent on other teams too
Cross-team technical leadership: partner with engineering leads and counterparts on other teams to improve the marketplace more broadly, technically, over time
A team and roadmap tied directly to fan-facing feature velocity, quality, and business outcomes on the demand side of our marketplace
What You’ll Bring
A hands-on engineering manager — comfortable spending real time writing and reviewing code alongside your team, not just directing from above
Direct experience using frontier models, AI coding agents/harnesses, and modern tooling to meaningfully improve engineering velocity and quality, and a point of view on where this is headed
A track record of shipping consumer-facing product features that moved measurable business outcomes
Strong cross-functional partnership skills — comfortable operating as a true peer to Product and Design, with your own opinions on what should be built, not just executing their specs
Experience managing full-stack and/or front-end engineering teams, with meaningful people-management experience (typically 5+ years in engineering, including several as a manager)
Familiarity with SQL/analytics to diagnose funnel and feature performance
Experience leading full-stack teams with end-to-end ownership of consumer-facing web and mobile products, backend services, and APIs in a high-traffic marketplace or e-commerce environment.
Strong understanding of modern front-end stacks (e.g., React and React Native), backend services, APIs, and full-stack architecture, with the technical depth to lead teams across the stack.
Experience partnering with Product and Design in a fast-moving, iterative environment (feature flags, A/B testing, rapid experimentation)
A data-driven approach to prioritization and technical trade-offs
Nice to Have
Experience in consumer marketplaces or high-intent, high-conversion consumer apps
A track record of building or championing internal tooling/platform investments that compounded team velocity over time
What We Offer
Flexible PTO
Competitive salary & equity package
Monthly Gametime credits for any event ($1,200/yr)
Medical, dental, & vision insurance
Life insurance and disability benefits
Diverse Family-forming benefits through Carrot Fertility
401k, HSA, pre-tax savings programs
Company off-sites and meet-ups
Wellness programs
Tenure recognition
At Gametime pay ranges are subject to change and assigned to a job based on specific market median of similar jobs according to 3rd party salary benchmark surveys. Individual pay within that range can vary for several reasons including skills/capabilities, experience, and available budget.
United States - Pay Range $256,857 — $302,185 USD
Gametime is committed to bringing together individuals from different backgrounds and perspectives. We strive to create an inclusive environment where everyone can thrive, feel a sense of belonging, and do great work together. As an equal opportunity employer, we prohibit any unlawful discrimination against a job applicant on the basis of their race, color, religion, veteran status, sex, parental status, gender identity or expression, transgender status, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability or genetic information. We respect the laws enforced by the EEOC and are dedicated to going above and beyond in fostering diversity across our company.